Save Me - Ghost Hunters
by truthseeker97
Summary: Ghost Hunters. TAPS. Grant Wilson has been acting strange- and it's not just Jason Hawes who has noticed it. When Grant experiences a tragedy that leaves him feeling numb and devastated, he struggles to cope, leaving both his physical and mental wellbeing at risk. Contains mentions of disordered eating. (The sequel is in progressed and will be uploaded as a second chapter to this.)


**Author's note- Hope you enjoy this Ghost Hunters fic! Although I won't add any graphic or the like, there is a hint of a Jason/Grant pairing. But this is more of a friendship fic than a love one. Oh and I know Jay and Grant don't share a house, but it's supposed to be a fanfic so bear with. Also, Jay's and Grant's wives aren't in this. And Grant has asthma.**

**I'm working on a sequel as well, so stay tuned!**

**Disclaimer- Syfy owns the show Ghost Hunters, and the people own themselves, I am merely playing with them for a while.**

Save Me

"So how about we start off by trying to debunk some of these claims?" Jason suggested as he and Grant entered the living room. They were currently on the outskirts of Warwick in the USA inside a house that was owned by a lady called Amy. Amy (who was now sleeping round her parents house,) had rung up the team when she started seeing black masses moving around the rooms, and when she started to hear whispering and the feeling that someone was watching her every move; but it was when her four year old daughter – Alice – saw a 'scary man' by her window that she really started to panic. Of course Jason and Grant put this family to the top of the list of their priorities- because this is one of the reasons why they do this, they want to help the family to feel safe in their own home again and for their daughter to not be scared every time she has to go to bed. They like to help people- especially if they have a child, that's when it becomes their main priority.

"Yeah sure," Grant agreed with Jason's idea. He coughed, Jason looked over to see if he was alright, but Grant attempted to prevent the coughs and gave his best friend a weak smile back. Taking his inhaler out of his jacket pocket, Grant took a puff and waited for the need to cough to go away. His asthma, although it was a moderate condition at the moment, hadn't been too bad recently, the only time when it really got bad was when Grant's chest would tighten and he would feel as though his lungs were being crushed and that he can't breathe. Luckily, it hadn't escalated to that level yet; but he was dreading the moment it does.

"The owner – Amy- said that she would often see alot of black masses around here, especially in the corners," Jason said as he scanned the living room with the flir thermal imager.

"Do you think they could just be misidentified shadows?" Grant asked.

"That's a possibility, but she said they have more of a form to it and are more solid than a shadow..."

"Should we try and debunk it then? We could shine a flashlight outside and see if that does anything." Grant retrieved his light from the table he left it on. "I'll go outside the window and shine the light at different angles, tell me if you can see anything." Jason nodded in agreement as Grant walked outside to the front of the house where the window was. He turned the flashlight on and shone it at different points, trying to recreate what this lady might be seeing. From inside he caught Jay giving him the thumbs up, so he walked back to him.

"Anything?" He asked.

"Nothing that looked like what she was describing," Jason sighed. "I really feel sorry for her; she sounded so frightened of this and for her little girl."

"Breaks my heart when things like this happen." Grant said sadly. "Well it probably wasn't a shadow then... how about an EVP?"

Jason turned off the small voice recorder after fifteen minutes of deafening silence; he hoped that in analysis they would catch something. His head shot to look at Grant as he heard his friend begin coughing again for what must have now been the fourth time this evening.

"You okay man?" He asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Your cough tells me otherwise."

"My cough isn't important." Grant suppressed another coughing fit as Jason raised his eyebrows. Jay always knew when something was up, and Grant knew he couldn't hide this from him all evening. But it wasn't just the occasional cough anymore, he was now starting to feel really sick, he felt dizzy and had a pretty bad headache. However he didn't want to worry Jason or anyone else, they had more important things to worry about- like helping this family- so Grant was going to try and hold out for the rest of the evening. As Jason stood up, Grant took a quick puff of his inhaler; Jay didn't notice this which was what Grant was hoping for.

Grant slowly followed behind Jason as they ascended the stairs to go into the young girl's bedroom. It was a tidy room painted a light pink with boxes full of toys stacked neatly to the side; it was a shame that the girl felt as though she couldn't sleep in here because of this supposed 'man' but they were going to try and find evidence that could suggest that this isn't a bad spirit.

"Hello; is there anybody in here?" Jason called out. Silence.

"If this is the man that scared the little girl, can you make your presence known to us?" Grant said. Once again there was silence, then... "Did you hear that" Grant said to Jason as three loud knocks sounded around the room.

"Yeah," Jason said, "If that's you can you do it again?" This time only one knock came. Grant looked down at the thermal imager in his hands and scanned the room; he stopped suddenly as he saw a heat signature on the wooden door of the girl's clothes closet.

"Hey Jay, check this out," Grant said.

"What is that?" Jason whispered. Grant advanced towards the signature, as he got closer it began to take a more defined form. "A hand print?" Jason said in awe at the new piece of evidence. It was a clear hand print with four fingers and a thumb and on the thermal imager it came up as a red mark- which meant that it was warm.

"Neither of us have been anywhere near the wardrobe." Grant stated.

"Wow, looks like we found a good piece of evidence to show them." Jason murmured.

Grant squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth as he felt his chest become considerably tighter; he tried to take a few deep breaths but failed at it.

"Grant, are you okay? Grant look at me." Jason said- his usually calm voice riddled with worry. In a response, Grant quickly got out his inhaler and took another puff of it. He immediately began coughing violently as the medicine hit the back of his throat. "Grant you need to breathe. Come on, with me," Jason began to breathe in and out at a slow but steady rhythm. The brown haired man attempted to copy his breathing pattern, and after a few more seconds the tightness had been lifted slightly. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks Jay."

"Its fine, you should have told me your asthma was getting worse."

"I'm fine though."

"Are you sure you're okay man? You don't look brilliant." Jason looked at him in worry.

"I'm sure," Grant said. In reality he wasn't, but he still didn't want to worry Jay- after all, he already looked too worried. Jason gave him a look that said, I know you're not fine but you better tell me if you feel another attack coming on. Grant smiled reassuringly at him as they both walked out of the girl's room to meet up at base.

Steve looked up at his bosses and friends as they climbed into the back of the TAPS van.

"Any luck?" he asked as they sat down.

"Yeah, got a heat signature and some knocking." Jason replied.

"Anything on the infrareds?" Grant queried.

"No, not yet." Steve answered, "I just sent Kris and Tango to go check out the basement where they have been hearing voices though."

"Good." Jason said. "Hey G, do you want to go check out the attic?"

"Sure, we'll check back in a bit Steve."

"Okay, see you guys."

They climbed out of the van and, when Jason made sure no-one could see them, pulled Grant aside just before they went into the house. Grant looked up at him in surprise:

"You okay?" he asked, looking up at the taller man.

"Yes. But you aren't," Jason said, "What's going on Grant? I can tell you're not happy about something and quite frankly it's worrying me sick, you haven't been right for a few days and it's not just because your asthma is playing up."

"I'm fine." Grant said monotonously.

"No you're not." Jason said sadly, "You are clearly not happy about something, I can see it Grant. Something's happened and it's killing you."

"It's nothing. Don't worry." Grant muttered.

"You can't just tell me to do that man; I care too much about you."

"I'm just not feeling that well."

"Just your asthma?"

"Feel a little dizzy and have a slight headache... but it's nothing so don't worry."

"You should have told me." Jason said, "But it still doesn't explain why you're sad." Grant decided to ignore Jason, he didn't want to tell him the real reason he was feeling like rubbish, instead he just said:

"I'm only feeling ill because I haven't eaten in a bit okay?"

"How long is a bit?" Jason frowned at Grant's admission in concern.

"Just a bit..."

"Grant,"

"Fine! About a little over a day okay?" Grant said slightly annoyed at being pressed for the answer. Not wanting to look into his best friends eyes, he chose a nice piece of gravel to stare at. There was silence. Grant instantly felt ashamed, now he made Jay even more worried.

"Grant..." Jay said softly, "I thought you were going to get your own dinner every time the gang and I went out for food..." Grant said nothing; he had become very interested in this particular piece of gravel he was staring at. "Grant, look at me." Jason said. He got no response.

"Grant, please look at me," Jason said softly. Reluctantly, Grant lifted his head. He was met with the worried gaze of his best friend, and it hurt him, he wanted to just die, to go away from the concerned looks. "Grant, you haven't eaten for a little over a day." Jason started gently, a little unsure how to combat the issue, "That's not a good thing, it's dangerous; very dangerous. You need to eat to survive, you will make yourself ill like this- but by the looks of it you already have. This can't go on Grant, I love you too much to let you do this to yourself, I won't see you waste away." He took a breath before continuing, "Something's happened. And it's really got you down and upset, but starving yourself won't do anything, it isn't the answer. Please Grant, just talk to me; tell me what's wrong so I can help you." And with that Grant just broke down.

Tears overwhelmed him and his legs gave way. He was sitting on a gravel pavement crying his eyes out, and he hated himself for it- hated himself for being so weak. Jason watched with tears in his own eyes, watching his best friend – his life, the man he would jump in front of a bullet for- broke his heart. Never, in all their years of being friends, had he ever seen him so... broken. Tentatively, Jay lowered himself to sit next to Grant on the ground. Truthfully, he wasn't sure what to say now, all he wanted was to see Grant happy again. With caution, as he didn't want to hurt his friend, he put his hand on Grant's shoulder in a comforting gesture. But the tears continued to fall, if only he knew what was going on inside his head. Jason removed his hand, Grant glanced at him fleetingly, but his look was one full of sadness. It killed him to see his friend like this. So he leaned closer to Grant and carefully wrapped his arms around him. Grant gratefully accepted the hug and wrapped his own arms around the taller man; he leaned against Jay's shoulder as he continued to let the tears trickle down his cheeks.

For what must have been at least five minutes they sat there, in each other's embrace, not wanting to let the other go. But finally, they pulled away; after all, they had been there for half an hour. They hadn't even gone to investigate the attic, Jason prayed that Steve wouldn't bombard them with questions- although he probably wouldn't- hopefully Tango and Kris checked it out instead.

"I'm so sorry Jay." Grant said pitifully, his eyes red from crying.

"Don't worry about it G. There's nothing to be sorry for." Jason said reassuringly.

"I made you upset." Grant whispered sadly, "I made you worry."

"I'm always gonna worry about you." Jason said, "Please Grant, just talk to me though. It doesn't have to be now, but just talk to me, let me help you; tell me what's wrong so I can help make you smile again." Grant hummed in response. Jason sighed at his answer, but he knew better than to press the issue right now.

"Thank you Jay." Grant said suddenly.

"Don't mention it buddy."

"What time is it?" Grant asked after another few minutes of silence.

"Just after three." Jason said as he glanced at his watch. "I hope the others have been okay without us."

"I'm surprised that haven't spoken to us on the walkie talkies to see where we are." Grant muttered.

"I suppose sometimes they know better than to bother us. I think they realised we needed some time alone for a while." Jason reasoned.

"Did you say anything to them?"

"I had my concerns about you but I didn't say anything to them. But they know something is seriously up with you, which is probably why they don't want to disturb us."

"Okay." Grant said, "Shall we tell them to finish this and get the lights on?"

"Great idea," Jason retrieved the talkie from his belt and pushed down the button, "Hey guys, why don't we wrap this investigation up?"

"Copy that Jay," Came the replies of Steve, Kris and Tango.

"Are you okay to head back to the van?" Jason asked Grant.

"Yeah," he replied while nodding weakly. They both stood up, Grant doubled over though as his body shook with the onslaught of chesty coughs.

"Easy Grant its okay." Jason said gently. Grant gasped for air, the sudden asthma attack had caught him off guard and his chest had tightened and he was now struggling to breathe. He fumbled in his pocket for his inhaler, just as he had his hands on it another violent bout of coughs hit him and he dropped his medicine on the floor. Jason swiftly picked it up and put it to Grant's mouth, Grant put his mouth around the inhaler as Jason released the medicine. The brown haired man tried to breathe in the medicine but ended up coughing even more.

"Let's give you another puff Grant that might be better than just taking one." Jason said as he put the inhaler to his friend's lips once again. Another puff of medicine was administered and Grant's coughing began to slowly subside. But Jason noticed that he was still struggling to breathe.

"Relax, you need to relax your body, it will help you breathe." Jason instructed.

"Can't... breathe!" Grant said in a much panicked tone. Deciding that Grant wasn't able to relax his body, Jason gently guided him back to sitting on the floor- that way he wasn't all hunched up over himself.

"Now try and relax and breathe with me," Jason said as he – for the second time that night – began to take deep breaths in and out in attempt to make Grant copy him. For several minutes Grant copied his friend with alot of concentration, until he finally let a deep breath of air. He was still gasping for breath but the asthma attack had gone for now. Once Grant had got his breath back he turned sheepishly to Jason:

"This really isn't my night is it?" Jason laughed at Grant's comment, but proceeded to help him stand up again- this time without bringing on a coughing fit.

"Should we head back to the van? It's only a forty five minute drive from our flat so we can get some much needed rest." Jason suggested.

"Sounds like a great plan to me."

The two men walked back to the TAPS van which contained all of their equipment, the team had already packed everything away. The team stood outside the van waiting for their bosses to arrive and as they approached they all turned to look at them.

"Sorry guys, Grant had an asthma attack shortly after I radioed you." Jason explained.

"Oh god are you alright now Grant?" Steve asked in concern.

"I'm fine now thanks." He replied.

"Well me and Kris had a look round in the attic for you," Dave Tango said.

"We hopefully got some good EVP's." Kris added.

"Great guys, thank you so much for that! We're sorry we didn't do it." Jay said gratefully.

"Yeah I'm sorry," Grant murmured quietly.

"Hey Grant are you sure you're alright?" Tango asked.

"Fine."

"Should we get going?" Kris suggested.

Throughout the small conversation, Steve had been looking at Jay; he had given Jason a look that said: something's seriously wrong, is he okay? Jason nodded his head and mouthed the words, I'll tell you later, to him. They all piled into the two vehicles they had; Kris, Tango and Steve in the van with all the gear in, and Jason and Grant in the car. About ten minutes into the journey, Grant turned to Jason:

"I should tell them shouldn't I?"

"It might be a good idea. They know that something is wrong and they are worried about you, but it's up to you man." Jason said as he concentrated on driving.

"I want to tell them. I just don't want them to think differently of me..." Grant sighed.

"They wouldn't love you any less G. We are a family, nothing will change that."

"Can you tell them?" Grant asked quietly.

"Don't you want to?"

"I do. But I don't want to tell them myself. Please?"

"Okay man. Just get some rest for now." Jason told him. He didn't particularly like the fact that he would tell them, but it was obvious that Grant was too scared to; he just wanted him to feel better. After five minutes Grant was fast asleep in the passenger seat, his breathing was soft and gentle and he looked very peaceful. Jason smiled at the sight. Quietly and carefully, he pulled out his walkie talkie and pushed down the button.

"I'm sorry about tonight everyone, but thank you for giving us some space and not asking a load of questions," Jason whispered to the team in the van in front of him.

"Its fine Jay," Tango replied. "We all know something's up so we thought we would just let you two talk for a while." There was a brief pause before Dave spoke again: "He's going to be okay isn't he?"

"He'll be okay I think. I'm going to talk to you all tomorrow; he wants me to tell you what's going on. Shall we meet up at the office at eight tomorrow morning? I know it's a little early, but then you guys can review the tapes and stuff and that way Grant will hopefully still be asleep."

"That's fine with all of us Jay, we'll see you then." He replied before hanging up. The rest of the car journey was in silence.

Grant awoke fifteen minutes before arriving back home, he yawned and looked at Jay.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine," Jay replied. "You?"

"Fine." Grant sighed heavily. He was quiet for a minute before looking at Jay. "Can I tell you something?"

"You can tell me anything G," Jay said. Grant took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"My mum, dad and younger sister died last week..." he whispered. Tears began to fall again from his eyes as he stared at his hands, reliving the pain.

"Oh god Grant, I am so sorry." Jason said sympathetically.

"They died in a shooting down on a visit to New York. I got the call a week ago that said, I'm very sorry but your mother, father and sister have died. They died upon impact; they were shot at point blank range in a freak attack. Nothing could have been done to save them." Grant wiped the tears from his face and took a deep breath. "I never got to say goodbye!"

"I'm so sorry. There was nothing you could have done though." Jason said gently.

"I know but I feel awful. They're gone. Dead. Forever. I'll never be able to see them again."

"It's tough G, but you have to stay strong. They wouldn't want you to be upset over their death; they would have wanted you to celebrate their lives." Jason said, "And they wouldn't want you to be doing this to yourself." He added softly.

"I know..." Grant sniffed.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. Not right now," Grant sighed as they pulled up in the driveway of their house. "I'm tired; I just want to go to bed."

"Okay. Thank you for telling me, and I'm here if you ever need me." Jason told Grant as he parked the car.

"Thanks Jay."

The two boys got out of the car and headed inside their house. They walked up the stairs together and paused at the top.

"Goodnight Jay,"

"Night Grant," Jason said. Grant smiled slightly at the taller man before pulling him into a hug, the two stayed there for some time but eventually parted ways into their own bedrooms to get a good night's rest.

Jason awoke the next morning at around seven o'clock; it was a bit too early for his liking but he had to go talk to the crew. After his daily shower, and after he got changed he wrote a still sleeping Grant a note. It read:

Hey G,

I'm sorry to leave you this morning but I will be back soon so don't worry, I have gone to talk to the rest of the crew and I wanted to do it ASAP. Hopefully you will still be asleep by the time I'm back, but if not just relax, have some breakfast and I'll be with you as soon as I can be.

Jay

Jason was unsure whether or not to tell him to eat breakfast, but he thought he might as well. He quietly opened the door to his friend's room; Grant was lying on the bed, half his body under the covers and he was in a deep slumber. He looked so peaceful. Jay smiled at the sight and proceeded to lay the note propped up on the nightstand beside the bed before walking back out of the room. After exiting the house, Jason drove the ten minute drive to the TAPS office, by now it was a few minutes before eight- so Kris, Tango and Steve would hopefully be arriving soon. But as he pulled up he noticed two other cars there- they were already here- Tango must have gotten a lift with Steve and the other car was Kris'. Jay turned off the ignition and sat for a moment, he took a deep breath, to be honest he was unsure of how to tell the team; it's not something that is ever easily said. He shook his head and got out of the car; he opened the door to their office and slowly stepped inside.

Everyone turned to look at him, they were all sat at different points around the room in swivel chairs and they all looked very tired.

"Hey guys," Jay greeted them. They all mumbled a 'hey' in response. "Are you all alright?"

"We're fine," Steve yawned, "Just worried I guess."

"Grant is okay isn't he?" Kris asked quietly.

"Grant will be okay in time," Jason said cryptically.

"Is he at home?" Dave queried.

"Yeah." They were all silent for what seemed like ages until Jason finally broke the silence. "As you know Grant hasn't been... right for a few days." He moved over to take a seat on the couch, everyone swivelled their chairs to face him, concern written on all of their faces. "And I won't lie; he isn't in a good place right now. You see... his mum, dad, and sister all died last week." The people around the room took in a sharp breath of air in sympathy for him, losing those we love isn't easy and they knew that. "They died in a shooting in New York. They were shot at point blank range and died on impact."

"Poor Grant..." Kris whispered sadly.

"Yeah," Jason started again, "And he isn't coping well at all with any of this. I think it took him by surprise and has really shocked him; he can't get over the fact that he will never see them again and never be able to talk to them. It's killing him."

"There's more isn't there?" Steve guessed, sensing that this wasn't just it.

"Yeah, there's more," Jason started, "But I'm really not sure how to tell you all..."

"He's not ill is he?" Tango asked- his face in his hands.

"In one sense I guess he is, yeah. But in the other sense no." Jason took a deep breath before saying: "He's started to starve himself. He hasn't eaten for about two days now, and I know it may not seem long but it's not healthy, it's not good for him. And... I don't want to see him get worse..." Jay wiped a few stray tears away from his face, trying to be strong- whereas everyone else in the room had tears streaming down their face. It almost reminded him of the song Fix You by Coldplay.

"How could we not have noticed this?" Steve whispered.

"I don't think any of us really expected this to have happened." Jay said, "It's not like Grant at all, he is really broken."

"What do we do now?" Kris asked as she continued to wipe the tears from her face.

"I honestly don't know. But what we can do is be there for Grant, be there to support him and to be a shoulder to cry on and to not judge him on this at all." Jay told them.

"We wouldn't judge him, he is part of the family," Tango said.

"Well I think I'll keep him home today. I don't think he is really up to much, so if you guys could go over the evidence that would be great." Jason said.

"We can do that," Steve nodded, "I'm guessing you have to get back to him, it's almost nine after all."

"If you don't mind..."

"We don't mind at all. Just talk to him, try and get him to open up to you more. And let him know that we... that we love him." Steve told Jay seriously. Jason smiled and said:

"Will do."

Grant sat on the couch in the living room, staring at nothing in particular. He had gotten Jason's note, and now he was just waiting for him to return- although he didn't eat breakfast. His eyes shot to the front hall as he heard the door open and close, Jason walked into the room and smiled when he saw Grant.

"Hey buddy. How are you?"

"Fine," Grant replied. Jason knew it was a lie but wasn't about to confront the issue, instead he walked over to sit next to his best friend.

"You had breakfast?"

"Hmm."

"That wasn't an answer." Jay said.

"No."

"Grant..."

"I'm not hungry." Grant sighed.

"You can't go on like this," Jason said carefully.

"Have you told the team then?" Grant asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah,"

"And?"

"They were... worried and upset- obviously. But they said that they love you." Jason informed him, "Your part of their family, and they don't want you to do this to yourself, but they love you no matter what."

"I'm so sorry Jay!" Grant sobbed before burying his face in Jason's shoulder.

"Hey, hey it's alright." Jason said softly as he wrapped his arm around the smaller man. Grant just cried even harder in response. This made Jason scared, scared for the man sitting beside him, scared about what he may do. He was scared that Grant would carry on this way, getting worse and worse, and Jason didn't even want to think of the consequences. It was going to be tough, but he would help Grant through this- he had to. There was no choice; he wasn't about to let his best friend spiral down this route.

Once Grant's shaking and crying had died down, Jason pulled back slightly to look him in the face.

"Do you want to be like this G?" he asked seriously. "Please, just give me an honest reply- I won't be angry, I just want to know if you want to continue starving."

"It takes my mind off of everything Jay. I can't explain it. The hunger gives me something else to focus on." Grant whispered.

"It doesn't answer my question." Jay said gently. Grant hesitated, thinking his answer through.

"In the long run... no. But I just don't know what else to do Jay!" Grant was getting himself more and more worked up by the minute and his breathing was starting to get a bit too fast for Jason's liking.

"Okay G, just calm down, I don't want you having another asthma attack." Jason soothed, after Grant had his breathing under control he continued, "What about talking to a counsellor?"

"No." Grant said simply and firmly.

"Okay, but you can't go on forever like this. And I won't let that happen."

"I know." Grant sighed.

"I'm gonna help you man. I'll do anything for you, you know that? I'll do anything to see you smiling and laughing, and I'm gonna do anything it takes for that." Jay said as he stroked the man's soft brown hair.

"I love you Jason." Grant murmured.

"I love you too G." Jason whispered softly as he wrapped his arms around Grant in another hug. In that moment, Jason made a promise, a promise to himself and Grant; that he will help Grant get better. No matter what. He will see him happy again, no matter what the cost.

"Save me Jason." Grant said so quietly you had to strain your ears to hear it.

"I will Grant. I promise you."


End file.
